Reading attachment for microscopes



y 1938. R. HQDRAEGER 2,123,882

READING ATTACHMENT FOR MICROSCOPES Filed April 8, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR Ez/PEErH. 126456512 BY We, M

ATTORNEY July 19, 1938. R DRAEGER' 2,123,882

READING ATTACHMENT FOR MICROSCOPES Filed April 8, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVEN TOR. EUPEQTH 0205652.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Julyl9,1938' I 2,123,882

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE READING ATTACHMENT FOR DHCROSCOPES Rupert H.Draeger, United States Navy Application April a, 1936, Serial No. 73,2241 c aim. 88-89) (Granted under the act oi March 8, 1883, as amendedApril 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) This invention relates to a microscopeattachend. The spindles receive film spools and may ment which convertsthe microscope into a readbe turned in either direction. The film gateand ing machine for information recorded in miniaspindle mounts slidewith respect to the base of ture. the device which is attached to themicroscope is Aprincipal object of this invention is to provide stage.This motion is to permit of movement of 5 a non-expensive solution tothe problem of readh field of View across he fi m hi wh ingminiature'film copy or paper pri ts, ment may be used to follow thelines down a A large part of the miniature copy now availpagephotographed cross-wise on motion picture able is on motion picture filmat a reduction of film or to switch from column to column if newsfromten to twenty diameters from the original. paper pages are copied lenthw se 0f the film 10 When the average printed page is reduced to thistripf film Copy is u h microscope extent it becomes entirely unreadableto the naror is used in the cust ma y ma n r to r fl t ked eye. In orderto read such miniature print t e l gh through the fi A p d mirror it isnecessary to have from five to fifteen diama v th film at is n lu ed onthe atta hment l6 eters magnification. Furthermore, when a. page toreflect light onto the upper surface when is reduced to a standard movieframe size a single Opaque py i u d.

line is nearly three-fourths of an inch in length d g a Strip that is1700 Short to he and hence a wide angle optical system is required woundon the p Wihg' guides v b p to cover this field at this magnification.Vided to eliminate the p s y of the Strip combination of requirementsnecessarily r ing and cutting off the field of view. 20 adds much to theexpense of a reading device. If 16 movie film is used, the desired fiThe various inexpensive film viewing devices is Covered y Using a 32ebjectlve lens in which are now available do n t e t th r the microscopewithalow power ocular. -Ashortquirements and are therefore inadequatefor er c l length j ve s giving the d e protracted reading without undueeye strain and increase in magnification is better for 8 mm. film. 25fatigue. Likewise, a longer focal length objective lens is The object ofthis invention, therefore, is to desirable e e fi d must cover a treeprovide an inexpensive means of utilizin th fourths of an inch lineon 35 mm. motion picture high quality optical equipment of existingifilm. However, this is not necessary if the discroscopes, particularlythe low power binocular tance between the objective lens and the ocular30 dissecting microscopes, for reading miniature can be shortened byscrewing the objective lens print and illustrations on a strip of filmor tape. Within the s b in te d of On ts ower end- Since it is possibleto record information on It is obvious that if h p h en pl nearly anystrip material or tape, it is a further lengthwise 0f t e t p t e e s 0difilculty in .35 object of this invention to adapt this device toturning th icr s ope throu h ninety d s so accommodate any of thepossible types of strip that the lineswlll be erect.

copy having the form of tape. The dimensions n the omp ny n r w n or thetape, or course, must be considered when 1 i a s e levation of amicroscope havin the device of this invention is being constructed. mo ned e n the attachment of this inve 40 Scientific literature is nowavailable in miniat 40 ture on motion picture film and therefore, theFig. 2 is a plan view of the reading attachm n embodiment of thisinvention illustrated in the Fig. 3 is an elevation of the device;accompanying drawings has been chosen to ac- Fig. 4 is a sectionalelevation at line 4-4 of commodate that size tape. Thus, since micro- Y46 scopes areavailable in schools and laboratories Fig. 5 is a sectionalelevation at line 5-5 of 5 all over the world, through the combinationof 2 Showing the v c mou ted o a mi othis invention with the existingpotential means pe stage; for making this source of information more usFig. 6 is an elevation of an alternative method iul without excessivecost, there is readily pmof construction, being a modification of thecon- 5 duced a conveniently operated reading machine struction shown inFig. 3; 50

of'the quality desired. Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the microscopelens This reading attachment is made so that it tube showing analternative mounting for the may be secured to the stage of amicroscope. It objective lens; and

consists principally of a film gate, guide rollers, Fig. 8 shows asimplification of the optical sys- 5 and spindles with hand cranksmounted at each tem of Fig. 7.

- film gate 22.

There is shown at Fig. 1 a conventional microscope having a frame I2, astage I3, an adjustable light reflecting mirror I6, and lens tube 4vertically adjustable on a rack and pinion by means of hand wheel l5,with the device of this inventransversely sliding on the rods 2|, whichpass through apertures 23 extending through flanges 24. The filmgate-plate 22 carries a transparent plate 26, mounted in an aperture 25,level with the topof the tape carrying groove 38, Fig. 5. Extendingdownwardly from the plate 22 are the arms 21 in which are journaled oneend of axles 28 of guide rollers 29, the other ends being journaled ineach of the lugs 30 extending from the Spool carrying spindles 3|provided with flanges 32 and journaled in the ends of arms 21 arerotatable by means of crank handles 33. Helical compression springs 34mounted upon the spindles 3|, between the arms 21 and the hubs of cranks33, create suflicient friction between the flanges-32 and the arms 21 toprevent coasting of either spindle when the strip material is wound fromone spindle to the other. Single flanged spools 35 are used to passminiature image bearing tape 5| over glass plate 26.

A cover plate 36, provided with a beveled aperture 31 slightly smallerthan and directly over the glass plate 26, is hinged to the film gateplate 22 as at 39 so that the strip material 5| will be held flat whilelight from mirror l6 may be reflected therethrough. This cover plate 36,however, maybe omitted, the groove 38 sufiicing to guide the tape 5|which is held taut by the friction on spindle flanges 32.

Light weight guide wings 49 are secured to the upper plate 36 so thatwhen short strips of copy having a tendency to coil are used, the looseends will be kept out of the field of view.

A tiltable mirror 4| is secured by means of posts 42 and screws 43 tothe plate 22. Brackets 44 carrying the thumb set screws I! areadjustable in grooves 45 in base plate l8 so that the device may fitvarious size microscope stages. This is best shown in Fig. 4.

For microscopes having a stage set too low to permit the spool 35 toclear the table upon which i the microscope rests the modification shownin Fig. 6 is used. In this case the support arms 21a are inclinedupwardly and 'guide rollers 29a are.

secured to the hinged cover 36 of the film gate instead of to plate 22as shown in the other figures.

In either case the hinged cover 36 is raised to place the strip in thefilm gate, the strip going over the guide rollers 29 in the first caseand under them in the second. Leaf springs 46 secured to hinge portions39 of film gate plate 22 bear against the fiat top surface of the coverplate 36 when it is in the open position, and against the flat rearwardsurface, when it is in the closed position, thus holding it in eitherone position or the other. In Fig. 1, the objective 4'! is shown mountedat the bottom of the lens tube |4 while the ocular 48 is mounted at thetop as is customary.

'- systems 'sired but also enlarges the field by the shortening of theobjective-ocular distance. Fig. 8 shows a simple lens 49 and a stop 50,detachably mounted within lens tube M in place of the low powermicroscope objective 41.

To use the device of this invention it is merely necessary to attach itto the stage of an ordinary microscope and to mount the proper powerocular and objective in the microscope lens tube. In the inherently lowpower wide angle microscopes, of the dissecting type, often no change inthe optical system is necessary to accommodate it for reading miniatureimages on. 16 mm. or 35 mm. strip copy. In the ordinary high powermicroscope of either the monocular or binocular type it is necessary touse a low power objective in order to cover the length of line of a pagefilling a standard frame of 16 mm. or 35 mm. film. If the images areextremely small, as in the case when a number of pages are placed on oneframe of 16 mm. or 35 mm. film, a higher power will be necessary,utilizing the proper objective lens to cover the line to be read. Ifthese optical do not cover the whole page it is merely necessary toshift the film carriage as the reading progresses down the page. In thecase of the extremely small images this shift may be used to bringanother page into the microscope field. When transparent film is usedthe microscope mirror must be adjusted to illuminate the copy from theunder side. If opaquecopy is used the mirror on this device is used inplace of the microscope mirror to direct light from any source onto thefaceof the copy.

To load the reading device the spool containing strip copy is placed onone of the spindles, the

fllm gate is opened, the loose end of the strip is pulled across to theother spindle and secured thereto. The fllm gate cover, if one ispresent, is then closed, the take-up spindle cranked to bring thedesired area of the copy into the field and the microscope focused forclear vision.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or forthe Government of the United States of Americafor governmental purposeswithout the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

I claim:

A film-reading attachment for microscopes, comprising a film-gateconsisting of a base-plate having an aperture, a clamp for fasteningsaid plate to a microscope stage, a pair of rods secured to said p1ate,a gate-plate slidably mounted 'on said rods, a transparent plate mountedin said RUPERT H. DRAEGER.

